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In looking over the specs, they look as though they could be a decent speaker, especially for that price. They promote a 12dB per Octave Crossover which is good. You would want to stay away from First Order Crossovers which usually will state to have a 6dB per Octave Crossover. From the image of the back, they look to use some decent components in their Crossovers.

In a nutshell, I see nothing that would be a red flag that you won't be happy with them.

Can I put these stright into my spacious kitchen soffits which are part of the attic, or do they need some type of rear enclosure? How about when in walls or ceilings and the insulation is draped over them? What do you do then?

If someone has a $200 Home Theater In a Box and purchase these to replace the very small box speakers that came with the kit .... Very good bet these would exceed the quality of the little 3" driver box speaker they are replacing. Since the system is designed to have the stock little 3" speaker for it's rear channels, it won't even send the bass frequencies that the new, much larger speaker can reproduce. So you won't get to hear the full capabilities of these speakers.

On the other hand, if you have a high end THX Certified system and choose to have these as the Surround Back Speakers, these would most likely be a very weak link in an extremely strong chain.

I just got 6 of these (they are sold in pairs). I plan on using them for my 5 channel surround. 2 will be used in conjunction for the center channel. My HT build is very modest in components, however I will most likely upgrade over time. From my brief test of these they sound better than my rather cheep 5 year old sony speakers.

Personally I would say they fall well short of the Monoprice speakers.
From the photos Parts Express provides, you can see no crossover or info in their specifications about the crossover. My guess is they utilize the most basic and least desired of crossovers. Best I can tell from the photos, there is simply a small capacitor keeping lower frequencies from reaching the tweeter, which it can not reproduce and would be damaged by. Unfortunately such a design allows all frequencies to go to the Woofer. Upper midrange and highs can not be produced by a larger driver "woofer" accurately, and what is produced is less than desirable.
Better Crossovers will have additional components that allow the woofer to receive only the frequencies it can reproduce accurately along with the upper frequencies only going to the tweeter. In a 3-way design crossover for speakers with a midrange driver, it also only receives the frequencies it can reproduce accurately.

That being said, everyone has their own taste in what they feel sounds best.

Partsexpress has a higher priced line of speajers that do have full crossovers. I have some of the 8 inch round models as my surrounds in ceiling and have some the the 3 way 8 inch in walls up front and have been happy with them.

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Do you want a nice Keystone Jack panel behind your TV with HDMI, and Toslink? Check This Thread at AVS

I just finished installing a pair of these in the ceiling yesterday as surround back speakers...but I have to plead ignorance and ask a few noob questions.

1. I have no idea what the crossover switch does. Any help? I just left it alone.
I understand how the crossover works in the receiver...but not the switch on the speaker. Trying to read up on it was making my head hurt.

2. Since these are open in the back, do they pose any potential fire hazard? Do speakers even get hot?

3. Another crossover question. Using the Audyssey setup on my Onkyo 605, it set the crossover on these monoprice speakers at 120Hz...that seems awful high for these speakers, especially compared to my L/R surrounds which it set at 80Hz and probably aren't even as well made as the monoprice speakers.

I have no hands on experience with these speakers, but do deal with a great deal of similar speakers by other manufacturers on a daily basis.....
The crossover switch on many similar speakers claim to provide the ability to increase / decrease the higher tone production of the tweeter.
On 3-Way versions they will also have one for the midrange. Since the crossover on these speakers are a passive design, it is not possible for them to enhance the frequencies and at best can only reduce them. So with switches that may have +3, 0, and -3 db settings for example, at the +3 setting, it is just allowing all of the high frequencies to reach the tweeter that is being sent to it from the amp.
The other settings use different capacitors to reduce them.
I always leave them in the highest setting. If you feel you want to reduce the treble to suit your taste, you can easily do so via your A/V Receivers equalizer / tone controls, often with the remote control.

No concern about the open back design being a safety issue as far as fire.

As far as the Speaker Crossover Settings on your A/V Receiver. One of the downfalls with most flush mount speakers is their bass response. Being that they don't have an enclosure specifically designed for the driver "woofer" their bass response will generally fall short from that of a bookshelf / floor standing speaker using the same sized driver. With open backed flush mount speakers, the amount of bass response you will hear will vary in every installation as each will provide a different "enclosure" behind them. Be it a non insulated wall with or without installation providing 2 cu. ft. of area, or a ceiling providing 2,000 cu. ft of area.
If the speakers are not reproducing bass below 120 Hz. any lower tones being sent to them will not be heard, or worst, only heard as distortion.
Here is a test you may wish to do to see if it is worth setting them at a lower crossover point.
While playing an action scene of a movie in a surround setting that utilizes the Surround Back speakers, remove all of the other speaker wires from the A/V Receivers terminals and turn off the sub. Now that your listing to only the soundtrack being sent to the Surround Back Speakers, switch to the lower crossover point. If you actually hear clean lower tones being reproduced from your speakers, it may be worth leaving it at that setting. If you don't hear any additional bass response, or worst hear distortion, you will know it is best to leave it at the higher crossover point.

I have no hands on experience with these speakers, but do deal with a great deal of similar speakers by other manufacturers on a daily basis.....
The crossover switch on many similar speakers claim to provide the ability to increase / decrease the higher tone production of the tweeter.
On 3-Way versions they will also have one for the midrange. Since the crossover on these speakers are a passive design, it is not possible for them to enhance the frequencies and at best can only reduce them. So with switches that may have +3, 0, and -3 db settings for example, at the +3 setting, it is just allowing all of the high frequencies to reach the tweeter that is being sent to it from the amp.
The other settings use different capacitors to reduce them.
I always leave them in the highest setting. If you feel you want to reduce the treble to suit your taste, you can easily do so via your A/V Receivers equalizer / tone controls, often with the remote control.

No concern about the open back design being a safety issue as far as fire.

As far as the Speaker Crossover Settings on your A/V Receiver. One of the downfalls with most flush mount speakers is their bass response. Being that they don't have an enclosure specifically designed for the driver "woofer" their bass response will generally fall short from that of a bookshelf / floor standing speaker using the same sized driver. With open backed flush mount speakers, the amount of bass response you will hear will vary in every installation as each will provide a different "enclosure" behind them. Be it a non insulated wall with or without installation providing 2 cu. ft. of area, or a ceiling providing 2,000 cu. ft of area.
If the speakers are not reproducing bass below 120 Hz. any lower tones being sent to them will not be heard, or worst, only heard as distortion.
Here is a test you may wish to do to see if it is worth setting them at a lower crossover point.
While playing an action scene of a movie in a surround setting that utilizes the Surround Back speakers, remove all of the other speaker wires from the A/V Receivers terminals and turn off the sub. Now that your listing to only the soundtrack being sent to the Surround Back Speakers, switch to the lower crossover point. If you actually hear clean lower tones being reproduced from your speakers, it may be worth leaving it at that setting. If you don't hear any additional bass response, or worst hear distortion, you will know it is best to leave it at the higher crossover point.

Wow. Thank you so much for that detailed response! I just couldn't seem to find the answer as to what the switch did in plain english. And I will give your test suggestion a try this weekend. (Thank goodness for banana plugs...)
Honestly, thanks again - I'll pay it forward, I promise.

My concern about being a fire hazard is probably me being overly cautious, but there's loose fill insulation above where I put these in (it's like a cellulose type insulation)...I pushed it back from the hole as best I could, but since once they're in the ceiling I can't see what's going on...well, I just worry about these things. I didn't want to leave the house for days after I did my first electrical work a few years back, either...

Tough to say definitively b/c I'm only using them as surround backs and am still playing around with the setup, but to a non expert, I'm happy with them so far. I'm going to test them by themselves over the weekend probably and can report back. Without knowing anything about the electronics end of a speaker, it seems like they're built really well. For $40 a pair I'm far from disappointed, I have paid far more for lesser quality...the Bose 161's I'm using for side surrounds for example.

Thanks for the info. The price looks great on these speakers, and I've always been happy with other items I have purchased from mono-price. I would love to read your feedback after you guys have a chance to listen to them with some music.

After that I might pick up a pair of the 8" inwalls to evaluate in my basement for a touchscreen jukebox I just setup. If they sound good enough I might use them in a whole house audio system which I will then mirror in the house my inlaws are about to build.

I don't expect them to be anywhere near the quality of my home theatre system, but if they sound decent they would be perfect for listening to music throughout the house and perhaps a bedroom mini-theatre type situation.

I just ordered the 8" in walls. Im going to use them for rear fill in the ceiling. Not sure if I'll hook them up to my rear channel or rear surround on the receiever. If I like them I may use them in the rest of the house on my Nuvo system.

I just ordered the 8" in walls. Im going to use them for rear fill in the ceiling. Not sure if I'll hook them up to my rear channel or rear surround on the receiever. If I like them I may use them in the rest of the house on my Nuvo system.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cody R

I just got 6 of these (they are sold in pairs). I plan on using them for my 5 channel surround. 2 will be used in conjunction for the center channel. My HT build is very modest in components, however I will most likely upgrade over time. From my brief test of these they sound better than my rather cheep 5 year old sony speakers.